Quem Quaeritis trope

(10th century)

   The three-line trope (a passage inserted into the authorized service) that begins Quem quaeritis (Whom are you seeking?) was first inserted into the introit (the opening of the service) of the Mass for Easter in the early 10th century. Around this brief dialogue sung between a singer impersonating the Angel and singers impersonating the three Marys at the tomb of Christ grew a whole tradition of what is generally called “liturgical drama,” that is, short dramatizations of biblical events performed as part of formal church services. Antiphonal singing (in which parts of the choir sang responsively) during the Mass was a dramatic practice by nature. Adding words to the singing of wordless vowel sequences created a genuine dialogue. In the three lines of the trope, translated from the Latin, the Angel begins by asking “Whom do you seek in the sepulcher, oh followers of Christ?” The Marys answer “Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, oh heavenly one.” To this the Angel responds “He is not here; he is risen, just as he foretold. Go and announce that he is risen from the sepulcher.” The lines have their ultimate source in the synoptic Gospel accounts of Easter morning, though the words of the trope are not the same as any of the Gospel stories.

   The trope survives in 14 manuscripts, the earliest of which is dated to about 930–35. In 970, a text called the Regulis Concordia, produced at Winchester, describes a reenactment of the sepulcher scene, including an exchange of the Quem quaeritis type and apparently making use of a makeshift “sepulcher” to create the scene. This dramatization was not a part of the Mass itself, however, but was performed at matins.At that time, the office of matins would have ended at sunrise, and the association of Christ’s resurrection with sunrise on Easter morning may account for the shift of the dialogue out of the Mass itself.

   The precise origin of this kernel of medieval drama is debated. Some believe that it occurred originally in the Abbey of St. Martial at Limoges (source of the earliest manuscript), while others have claimed that honor for the Benedictine abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland. More recent scholars have suggested other sources for the trope. Some have argued that the Easter vigil service in the Roman rite shows elements of the dialogue and was probably where it originated.Others have suggested a dramatic element in the Gallican liturgy, used in northern Europe until the Roman rite replaced it in the eighth and ninth centuries. Still others have shown that drama was encouraged at the court of CHARLEMAGNE more than 100 years prior to the Quem quaeritis trope, and that these dialogues may have had their source in the earlier ritual of the Byzantine church.

   Whatever its origin, it is clear that the Quem quaeritis trope is the earliest extant example of what became a widespread practice. By the 11th century, a Christmas version of the trope was developed, in the form of a dialogue between Shepherds and Midwives beginning “Whom are you seeking in the manger?” Between the 11th and 13th centuries, both the Christmas and Easter versions of the trope were expanded and varied to a large extent, and other tropes were developed for other important Christian feast days, like Ascension Day and the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. By the later Middle Ages, more complex liturgical drama was in existence. Critics have often suggested that these liturgical dramas were the immediate inspiration, or ancestors, of the highly developed MYSTERY PLAY cycles of the later medieval period, though no direct connection between the two has ever been proven. Still, the practice of dramatizing biblical events common to liturgical drama certainly paved the way for the popularity of the reenactments made in the mystery plays.

   Bibliography

   ■ Goldstein, Leonard. The Origin of Medieval Drama. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2004.

   ■ Hardison, O. B., Jr. Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages: Essays in the Origin and Early History of Modern Drama. 1965.Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983.